Flooding swamped parts of Polk County on Monday, sending water over roads near Memorial Boulevard in Lakeland and forcing tow trucks and residents to pull cars out of roadside ditches. Rainfall totals across the county ranged from 2 to 6 inches, and reporter Alexis Jones said water was coming up past her ankles as she covered the scene.
Water Rises Fast Near Memorial Boulevard
The flooding was concentrated in an area just off Memorial Boulevard in front of a flea market, according to Bay News 9, which reported that viewers described floodwater getting onto roads and causing other problems around Lakeland. Reporter Alexis Jones said the water was coming up past her ankles as she covered the scene, and the outlet noted it planned to show additional flooding from other neighborhoods later Monday afternoon. Weather experts cited by the station put rainfall totals across Polk County between 2 and 6 inches.
Residents first helped pull stranded vehicles out of ditches that had filled with runoff, and tow trucks came through afterward. The scramble came as a broader Flood Watch remained in effect until 3 p.m. EST for DeSoto, Hardee and Polk counties, per MySuncoast, which listed southern Polk County among the surrounding areas carrying flood risk Monday. The outlet reported that minor flooding in low-lying and poorly drained areas was the primary concern, with water over roadways especially possible in urban areas and near small streams, and warned that additional flooding remained possible even after the advisory expired.
A Familiar Trouble Spot for One Auto Shop
Monday's flooding wasn't the first time water has caused headaches along West Memorial Boulevard. Twin Diesel Performance, an auto body shop on that stretch, was inundated with more than two feet of water during a thunderstorm on July 30, according to WFLA, which reported that employees waded through knee-deep water within 30 minutes to save inventory, vehicles and equipment. The same report detailed how the shop's parking lot filled with roughly two feet of water while about 10 to 11 inches entered the building itself, per the station's account.```n
Lakeland city staff told WFLA that heavy rainfall and stormwater runoff from the surrounding area contributed to the July flooding near Memorial, and that Public Works staff found no blockages in the storm pipe systems serving the area. Raised grates were installed on nearby inlets to keep debris from clogging them. Separately, the city told Tampa Bay 28 that the July flooding resulted from rainfall that exceeded the drainage system's design capacity.
Owners Describe a Pattern, Though Accounts Differ
Business owners at the shop told Tampa Bay 28 that the property had now flooded three times in recent years after going a long stretch without any flooding at all. That account conflicts with an earlier statement from David Goodwald, who told Bay News 9 in August that the flooding had happened only twice before since the shop opened on West Memorial Boulevard in 2015. Tampa Bay 28 also reported that National Weather Service radar estimates showed areas near downtown Lakeland received about 2 to 3 inches of rain over roughly three hours on July 30, while areas near Lakeland Linder International Airport saw more than 4 inches in about two hours.
The National Weather Service Tampa Bay Area office had forecast showers throughout Monday, warning that locally heavy downpours could lead to flooding of urban, low-lying and poorly drained areas. For residents along Memorial Boulevard, that forecast played out much as it has before, with tow trucks once again hauling cars from flooded ditches as the rain kept falling.
